Can I dispute this judgement

[webster]

I had a judgement against me for a credit card. The company that originally sent me the collections would never verify the information, I thought that I might have had that credit card, and made payments, then it transferred to another company that did the same thing. I stopped paying verbally disputing. In court the lawyer could not show evidence documenting the collection other than a letter from collections that I told him I disputed. I wasn't sure on the bill's legality of actual debt. I told the lawyer I'ld make payment arranements, and didn't appear before the judge - I was told and threatened not to that an arrangement was made and no judgement would be asked for.

Well a few years later, I find the original bill, and the amount of the debt that was sued for is very inaccurate. The company refuses to submit any material of verification to verify where the history of the debt came from - past creditors - payments - etc.

Well I'm not too sure now if this is valid and is a scam, and the original credit card company went out of business and the company that bought them out cant find record of it. So if I'm making payments now even - arent they supposed to go to the original credit card company. And don't they have to supply proof of that to me that it was sent to them and address, etc. If I ask, or would this be up to bring burden of proof of forwarding payments to the court? Do I request a vacate of judgement since no one will show me the credit history of where it came from?

 

[tpajet]

First you need to visit the FTC's site (that's Federal Trade Commission) at: FTC collections site This will answer many of your questions, and maybe answer some you didn't think to ask.

You need to clarify something. You said this never went before a judge, and that there was a payment arrangement already made. If that is the case, then how do you have a judgement against you?

It's time right here and now to stop and review all of this. First of all, you need to pull your credit report. You have the right to do this once per year for free, and it's highly recommended that you do because of all of the identity theft issues. A great place to go is www.annualcreditreport.com

You will be able to get your credit report form all 3 of the major bureaus. Look toward the bottom of the report, and it will list debts that are in collections, but more importantly it will list any judgments you have against you. If there is no JUDGEMENT listed, then you don't have a legal judgment. In this case, it's time to file a lawsuit against them. Your main points are going to be that they didn't provide you with the correct info and bring that last bill showing they are trying to collect much more than you owe. Also contact your state attorney general's office and report them.

If there is one, then yes, you need to find out about getting the judgement reviewed or reversed.

As to the original debt, the company that took over your account would have bought that account from the company that went out of business, so you do owe them now. Any money that you pay goes to the new company. It works the same was as Chase Bank having bought out Washington Mutual. If you had a debt with WaMu then Chase now owns that debt, since they now own WaMU. The only difference in your case is that the first company went out completely before getting bought out. But the new company does own your account now.

In the mean time, don't send them another dime until you get this all worked out. If they make a collections call, tell them you have stopped paying as part of you preparations to sue them, and that they are not to call you again. Advise them that any further contact must be done via the mail.